Abstract

Exercise is being increasingly established as a key adjuvant therapy in clinical oncology. As research has demonstrated the beneficial impact of exercise for cancer management, a growing number of cancer patients are undertaking structured exercise programs. Purpose. To determine the safety and feasibility of formal exercise testing in clinical settings as it is becoming increasingly used as a screening tool and for exercise prescription purposes. Methods. One hundred and twelve prostate cancer patients undergoing ADT took part in a physician supervised multistage maximal stress test (Bruce protocol). 60 patients had been on ADT <3 months (acute) whilst 52 had been on ADT for > 3months (chronic). Results Of these men, 85% were able to meet the criteria for the attainment of VO2max whilst three positive tests (3.2%) were observed. The three participants who recorded a positive stress test underwent further medical examination and subsequently cleared of clinically significant cardiovascular disease. Apart from the relatively low VO2max (24.7 ± 6.0 ml.kg.min-1:10-15th percentile), compared to normative data in healthy age-matched controls, the cardiovascular response to exercise was similar in this cancer population. Moreover, treatment duration did not appear to influence cardiovascular responses to exercise. This early evidence suggests that risk of adverse events during maximal exercise testing is relatively low in this population and certainly no higher than age-matched apparently healthy individuals. Conclusions. Maximal exercise testing was demonstrated to be feasible and safe providing a direct assessment of VO2max. The relatively low number of positive tests in this study suggests the risk of adverse events is relatively low in this population and certainly no higher than age-matched apparently healthy individuals.